Sure, the Pistons lost but it wasn't in the fashion they've have been accustomed to losing road games during their four-year playoff drought.

Memphis built a 10-point lead in the third quarter but the
Pistons didn't fold, rallying to take the lead into the fourth quarter and
keeping it before Memphis pulled even with 8.2 seconds left.

The Pistons still had a shot to win at the buzzer before Chauncey Billups misfired on a 3-pointer, and afterward they suggested the loss
might have signaled the beginning of a new era for a team that has lost 42 of
its last 43 road games against Western Conference opponents.

So does that mean it might indeed eventually be looked at as a good loss?

"As a good loss?" Cheeks asked Saturday. "We'll see. I don't know if
you can say it's a good loss today. Later on, maybe at some point you can say
it's a good loss. But our ability to be in that game, the whole time, to have a
chance to win on the road with a good team like Memphis, it was good for us in
that respect.

"Being in Memphis, being on the road, opening day, the
crowd, a lot of factors you'd think would be playing against you and we hung in
there. We had a chance to win the game. To know we have that ability to go in
there with those types of circumstances and have a chance to win is very
encouraging.

"But right now, today, can I say it's a good loss? Billy Cunningham
told me a long time ago there's never a good loss. But there's never a bad win
either."

Cheeks, by the way, was Cunningham's starting point guard on
Philadelphia's 1983 championship team.

• Boston brings an 0-2 record to The Palace tonight after
losing 93-87 to Toronto on opening night and then falling 105-98 Wednesday to
the Bucks.

The Celtics are in a rebuilding mode after trading Kevin
Garnett and Paul Pierce to Brooklyn. They're also without point guard Rajon
Rondo, who is still rehabilitating his knee after undergoing surgery to repair his
torn ACL.

But Cheeks isn't worried that the Pistons will take the
Celtics lightly.

"We're trying to get someplace," Cheeks said. "Our mindset
is it doesn't matter who we're playing. We have to try and play a consistent
style of basketball. For the first two games, we played that type of
basketball.

"I don't think it's about no name guys on Boston's roster.
We're just trying to get to our place where we're playing consistent
basketball. The first two games we played that type of basketball. I don't think
it will be where we have a letdown because we're trying to get to that area."

• Brandon Jennings didn't play in the Pistons' first two games because of an impacted wisdom tooth and hairline jaw fracture,
but that doesn't mean he wasn't doing some work on the bench.

Jennings was watching how fellow point guard Will Bynum
interacted with the rest of the Pistons and hopes to put the knowledge he
picked up to good use whenever he's able to return, whether that's tonight against
Boston or down the road.

"I've definitely been paying attention," said Jennings,
whose only game action this season came in the preseason opener vs. Maccabi Haifa, when he
had 15 points and five steals. "This year my goal is to live in the paint a lot. That way I can make things happen for everybody.

"We have a dominant front court. It's going to be important
that we get those guys the ball, especially Greg Monroe and Josh Smith. And
(Andre) Drummond, we don't really run plays for him but he finds a way to
always get the ball and score some points for us."

What else did Jennings learn from watching a 113-102 victory
over Washington on opening night and Friday's 111-108 overtime loss in Memphis?

"That we're going to be pretty good this year," he said. "(Friday)
night was a good opportunity to see where we are and if we can compete with
teams that were in the Western Conference Finals. It showed we can.

"I always feel like at the beginning of the season, teams don't
start rolling until game 20 or something like that. I feel like it's more
important for us to get off to a great start now. We shouldn't waste any time.
There should be a sense of urgency where we catch these teams early."

• The Pistons' new "Motor City" jerseys will make their
debut tonight and the players will wear them at all Sunday home games. They'll
also wear them for select road games. The jerseys will be on sale at The Palace
tonight.